Hold On Tight
by RobotKat
Summary: Rouge's origin...a young, amateur thief girl is picked up by a certain Nack the Weasel, and how is this training going to turn out?
1. Wild Times

This part of the story was written probably sometime in late 2006 or early 2007, back when I was a huge Sonic the Hedgehog fan (especially of Nack the Weasel). At the time, I was really getting into writing a whole backstory for Rouge the Bat…from my perspective, this story is an interesting part of my past writing, but it could also be an internet trainwreck. I'll put up the rest of this if anyone likes it…

* * *

Beneath the cloudy, darkened Mobian night sky lay an energetic city called Casinopolis. Gleaming neon lights advertised bars and strip clubs, cars and motorcycles humming throughout the area, and the typical smattering of crimes occurred. One thief in particular, a teenaged bat named Rouge, was in flight thirty feet above the ground, clutching her newfound gem.

"Get the hell down here!" Yelled a burly canine running below her. He was waving a broken pipe, preparing to throw it at her feet.

"Do you think I'm _that _stupid?" Rouge shot back.

"You sure look like it!"

Ruffled, she flew down to the dog, kicked him in the jaw, and then hurried back into the air. She hopped from building to building before entering the calmer part of the city outskirts. Rouge landed behind a darkened bar, sat down on a cardboard box and studied the gem. It was about as big as her fist and a magnificent light blue. It had been worth the close encounter.

Suddenly, from up the alley, she could hear the purr of some vehicle. Quickly, Rouge ducked behind a couple of garbage cans and clutched the gem tighter.

The vehicle stopped along the row of garbage cans. Somebody seemed to step out and walk around the alley, whistling. The footsteps stopped, the person rocking back and forth on their heels. After several dreadfully long seconds of silence, the garbage cans were kicked down.

"Oh, look what we got here!"

She shrieked, squirming away.

"Calm down, I ain't with them!"

Rouge looked up. A male weasel with messy, dark purple fur looked back at her. He wore a slightly tattered beige fedora, a belt adorned by various small weaponry, thick boots and gloves with metal plating over the knuckles. He stood by the vehicle, a monstrous blend of a hover car and a convertible. He looked at her confusedly, his eyeline falling from her face to her chest. And that's when she noticed his oblong fang.

"Vampire!"

"_What?!_" He flipped a gun out and glared at her. After a moment, he calmed down after seeing her cower again.

He returned the gun to its holster. "Now, I was just going to say, good work with your theft. Left a nice boot print on that guy."

Rouge stared. "Really?"

"Saw the whole thing. You went into that bar, pretended to flirt with that guy when you went into his pocket, and got the hell outta Dodge." He grinned. "Good work there…almost."

Rouge stared at him.

"I could benefit from having someone like you." He put his hand over the gun handle again. "What's your name?"

"I'm Rouge—"

"Ah, _careful_. Reveal _that _to the wrong person, and you've got the entire county after you."

"Well gee, thanks. Who are you?"

"I'm Kaminski."

She stared. "I'm serious."

The weasel smirked. "I'm Nack the Weasel, wanted thief throughout Mobius. From what I can tell, you're new to the crime biz."

"Well, quite." Rouge tilted her head. "Why on Mobius would you want to know?"

"Hey, I'm just saying, if you need training…"

"Training?" Rouge stood up. "Well, why not?"

"You're up for it?" Nack looked at her curiously.

"For now, anyway." Rouge gave him a look. "But remember…no harassment, no stealing from me and no gang rap—"

Nack hacked. "You think I'm going to put a girl through _that_?" He got back into the vehicle and opened the passenger door. "Hop in, lady."

She did so.

"One wrong move and you're toast, weasel," Rouge hissed, keeping her arms close to herself.

"Yeah, I get it."

The strange vehicle revved and sped into the night, heading towards a small shack far up the road.

"While we're talkin', how old are you?" He said, studying her costume.

"I just turned seventeen."

There was silence.

"…You're how young?"

* * *

Expecting the worst, Rouge followed Nack into the house. Once both were inside, Nack kicked the door shut, took off his hat and hung it on a nearby coat rack. He called down the basement stairs, "_Hey_! Nic, I'm_ home_!"

"Oh_, lovely!_" A female voice yelled back. "Didja bring another _scumbag _with you?"

"_Up yours too, sis!_"

A female weasel, obviously named Nic, ascended the stairs. She looked nearly identical to Nack, the exceptions being her messy long hair that had been hastily tied into a braid, a leather jacket and a beige tank top covering her well-endowed chest. She glared at Rouge.

"Well, who's this, then?"

"Kid I plan to teach." Nack was nonchalantly fiddling with something on his belt.

"Not _this _again," Nic snarled. "Remember that Bean and Bark duo?"

"Yes, I do! Did you hear about their heist in the Great Desert?"

Nic groaned and looked back at Rouge. "What's your name?"

Rouge paused. "Kaminski."

"Oh, great! And she learned your little 'joke', Nack!"

"At least she ain't giving out her _real _name at random."

"I guess." Nic turned back to Rouge before heading down the stairs. "Just don't screw this up!"

Rouge watched her disappear down the stairs. "What's her problem?"

"Me, mostly. Since Dad went hell-knows-where, Nic and I have had to share a house. I keep trying to recruit new thieves, but she gets…" He nodded towards the hallway. "Changing the topic, I'll show you your room now."

And he did. Rouge stared around her room. It looked like someone had converted an old storage room into a bedroom, with decade-old posters and a large yet dusty bed. The outlook of the room's window reminded her of her of her own room.

"It wouldn't be a problem if I brought some of my own stuff here? To say, a change of clothes or things I've stolen?"

"Why not. Just, uh, not too much stuff. I can't get it too cramped in here."

"Done."

Nack turned to the door, rubbing the back of his neck. "Hey, I'm gonna sleep, so…good night."

"Abrupt, aren't we?"

He had already left. Rouge got a feeling that training would be difficult.

* * *

AWOOHOOHOO, cliffhanger. There's approximately two or three more chapters, so let me know if you want more! (Or, if you want it to turn into a Nack X Rouge fiction...)


	2. Matter Of Fact

Hey, kids! I was feeling bored this evening and wanted to put up another chapter. I discovered three "story routes" that led to Rouge being paired with three different males…I'll check out the reviews I get (assuming a lot of people read this) to decide on which one to go with…

Also, look for a few classic Sonic characters in this instalment! I couldn't resist putting them in…

* * *

The next morning, Rouge was jolted awake by the sound of something heavy thrown against a wall, along with Nack yelling that he was going to "reach right over there and pluck your eyes out of their sockets, do you hear me?" She sat up and listened, her ears perking up, unsure if it was a police bust or the like.

"Aw, darnit! Can't you go two minutes without trying to hit me?!"

"Maybe if I didn't wake up to find you in _my _house!"

"Dun' looks at me, boss. _He _dragged me along."

"You still showed up!" There was another smash and a squawky shriek.

"Ahaaa! Missed!"

Rouge ran into the main room. "What's going on?!"

Nack and Nic stood in angrily by a small, bright green duck that sat calmly at the table. His companion, a bulky yellow bear, was sitting on the floor with the ruins of a lamp next to him. What also appeared to be a toaster lay behind the duck. The four turned to the young bat in the rose pink nightgown.

"Oh, hi Rouge. _We_," he said, waving back at the guests, "were just trying to kick out a few of my lackeys, Bean and Bark, who got the _stupid _idea that they could break in!"

"If you don't want your assistants dropping in, maybe you should lock your door once in a while!"

"You _stole _our lock!"

"IT WAS SHINY!" Bean howled in frustration.

Bark looked over at Rouge. "Boss, you started up another thief?"

Nack paused and let go of Bean's scarf, letting the duck fall. "Oh, right, I forgot about Rouge's training."

"Well, you do that while I get me some breakfast!" Bean headed towards the kitchen, and was cut off immediately by Nic, whom gripped a .32.

"Let me see you try," she grinned, running her fingers along the gun.

Less than a second later, Bean discovered just how fast he could run.

* * *

"All right, even though you're my first female client, I'd like to start on the detailed art of using…a gun." Nack produced a pearl-handled rifle from behind his back. He put it in Rouge's hands and let her study it. "Now, the trick to having a gun is that you need the proper accessories. Here, let me get the silver bullets…" He turned to a cabinet behind him and fumbled with the lock.

A shot rang out. Nack yelped and whirled around, his fists in the air. Rouge stood before him, bewildered, pointing the gun.

"I didn't think the trigger was that loose!" She froze. "Are you hurt?"

Nack paused, then removed his hat and looked at it. A hole went through one end of the hat and through the other. Both Nack and Rouge noticed the newly made bullet orifice in the wall.

"Well, at least you just need to work on your aim." He put his hat back on and snatched the gun away. "However, guns clearly aren't your thing."

"Well, don't you know any fighting?"

Nack leaned against the wall. "I know punching, kicking, bouncing off my tail, and…that's it. You've got your aerial attacks straight."

"We can still try guns, right?"

"You almost killed me, remember?"

"Then what the hell are you planning to train me?"

Suddenly, Nack swung his fist towards Rouge's cheek. She squealed in fright, yet Nack's fist stopped millimetres from her fur. After a pause, he pulled back his hand.

"Oh, I don't know...disguising, hiding, _reflexes_?" He smirked, revealing his fang once more.

"Jerk."

"Why thank you."

Here," he said, picking up a pair of soft plastic punching bags. "Meet me outside and we'll try something with kicking."

* * *

"Remember, kick the bags to keep them away from you. If you don't hit one, it hits you."

"Ow! I'm trying, but— _hey_! Stop pushing the bags so hard!"

"Look, this is standard practi— GAH! OW!"

Rouge landed. "Well, I think I'm getting faster, but my aim seems off."

She watched uneasily as Nack kneeled to the grass, hissing, with one gloved hand over the left side of his face.

"Way off. Are you okay?"

Nack stopped hissing and looked up. "Will be, later. Nothin' broken" He stood, picked up the punching bags and threw them through the living room window. Something shattered inside, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Maybe I'm good enough already," Rouge insisted.

Nack ignored her, stretching his arms over his head with a grunt. After a moment, he looked up the dirt road that led them to Casinopolis.

"You know, I feel like staging a robbery. If you get into that boob costume, I'll let you come along."

"Oh, finally! I…" She stopped. "Hey, don't call it the 'boob costume'!"

"I call things as I see them."

Rouge groaned in defeat, then ran off to change.

* * *

A blue hedgehog walked down the back roads of Casinopolis with his companions, a female chipmunk in a blue vest and combat boots, and a small two-tailed fox that flew along by spinning his tails like propellers. All three were hurriedly trying to leave the city.

"Oh, Sonic," the chipmunk said while typing away on a pocket computer. "I don't think we're even close to a Chaos Emerald. You said it was on the outskirts, right?"

"I did, Sal. Is Nicole's detector on the fritz or somethin?'"

"Uh, guys, I think we're lost…" The fox whispered, his big eyes full of question. He flew over to a tree stump and sat down. "While you two look around, I'm gonna sit next to these rocks."

"Rocks?" Sally looked up.

"Yeah, and this one's really shiny!" Tails pulled one rock up from the ground, dusted it off, and realized it was a Chaos Emerald. "Look! Look! I found it!"

Sonic ran over to him and held up the Emerald, letting its facets shine in the sunlight. "That's awesome, little bro!"

"Yeah, just _awesome_!" A voice called out from behind them. The three turned to see Nack the Weasel floating nearby in a sickly yellow hovercraft. He pulled a gun from under the seat and hoisted it towards them. "All right, kids, hand it over!"

Sonic put his fists on his hips and tapped his foot anxiously. "Yeah right, Weasel! Like we're going to let you have one of these!" He mockingly tossed the Emerald from hand to hand.

"Oh, is that true?" A female voice sung out.

Suddenly, Rouge swooped down from the craft and snatched the Emerald from Sonic's hand. She flew higher into the air, but was stopped by Tails, who took a tight grip on the Emerald.

"I dunno who you are, lady…but this is _ours_!"

"I see that," she cooed, running a finger along Tails' face. "But you'll be nice and give me the Emerald, right?"

"Uh…I…" Tails stuttered nervously before letting go of the Emerald. It slipped from either hand, but Rouge recovered it immediately.

"GOT IT!" She yelled triumphantly.

Nack looked up at her, annoyed. "H-hey, wait, I—"

Sonic revved in place, preparing to leap up and knock her down. Thinking quickly, Rouge grabbed Tails by the end of his tails and threw him at the hedgehog, both boys falling over. She retreated to Nack's hovercar and met the weasel's glare.

"_Why _did you do that?" Nack growled.

"Shut up and drive, Nack!" And they were off.

"Gnaaugh," Sonic groaned, rubbing his forehead. "That's a new move…"

Sally stared after the departing craft. "Well…let's just try to bet back to Knothole."

"All right," Tails mumbled airily, staring after Rouge.

* * *

"What the _hell _were you thinking? You _completely _stole the show!" Nack bellowed at his passenger.

"I thought that was a good thing! Just be happy you got a damn Chaos Emerald."

"That's not the poi—"

Rouge stuck out her tongue. "I bet you're just angry that a girl is as good a thief as you."

Nack begun to say something, then stopped and turned back to the wheel. His ears were folded back.

"And what's left to teach me, anyway? Can't I just join your gang _now_?"

"Because you're still a kid," He grumbled.

"I'm only three years younger than you!"

"Point proven!"

A sickening thud broke through the air and the two were knocked back into their seats. Nack clambered to get up and see what had happened. While distracted during his fight with Rouge, Nack had let go of the steering wheel and allowed the hovercar to drive into the side of their house.

"Son-of-a…" He got back to the wheel, angrily drove the car to the garage and stomped into the house. Rouge followed, uneasily.

"Here, take it—" Before she finished, Nack snatched the Emerald from her hand and kept walking. Rouge slumped against the garage wall and sighed. From what she'd learned about her mentor, he obviously had a continental ego. Having a female, one younger at that, upstage him during a heist must have annoyed him big time. But she never meant any harm.

Her train of thought was derailed when Nic came into the garage.

"Aw, shut up," Nic yelled into the house. "I'm just wonderin' why you're so weird this evening!" She kicked the door shut, then noticed Rouge. "Oh, I see. What did _you _do?"

"Nothing," Rouge mumbled. "Nothing on purpose. He took me to a mugging, but I got out of the car and—"

"Ah, makes _perfect _sense." Nic waved towards the door. "Nack's got such a problem with girls being better than him…"

"You mean, he's anti-femi—"

"_No_, 'course not. He's just insecure 'bout his 'manly pride', or somethin'. That's why he's got such a problem with me." Nic laughed. "At least he likes you, kid. Just don't annoy him further."

Nic, strangely consoling, patted the younger female on the shoulder, and then walked through the garage to the back of the house. Rouge sensed what was about to happen, and hurriedly got into the house.

"HEY!" Nic yelled outside. "Where the hell did this dent come from?!"

* * *

Long after yet another argument, Rouge hid behind her bed and stared out the window. Nic had been pretty upset about the car print in the wall and how Nack hadn't cared; he said that the house was "already a rat hole, so who gives?" To make matters worse, Bean and Bark broke in at the climax of the fight, causing the weasels to chase them out and ultimately make them angrier. Rouge still felt responsible for the entire day. Perhaps if she made her bed, gathered her things and got flying right away, she could…

Suddenly, a head looked in through the top of the bay window. Rouge scrambled back, but stopped upon realizing it was Nack.

"Hey, want to come up here?"

"Why are you on the roof?"

He let one arm dangle. "I always do this when Nic is after me. Do you want up or not?" Rouge flew out the window and joined Nack on the roof. She looked around. The roof provided an amazing view of the surrounding forest and sky, along with distant neon signs from Casinopolis.

"You do this _all _the time?"

Nack grinned. "Yeah. Even with Nic after my ass somewhere, it's always so calm out here…" He faded off and focused his attention on a distant neon sign of a cat in garters, kicking.

"Hey, Nack, I was thinking about quitting training."

He abruptly turned to her. "_What_?"

"Think about it," she said, lying back. "First, I almost shot you. Then, I kick you in the head and upstage you. _Then_, I got the wall dented and _you _in trouble! I shouldn't—"

"Hey, calm down. You're new to this stuff, just never kick me in the face again." His expression softened. "Don't try quitting now."

"All right. I'll try even harder from now on."

"And _I'll _try to put up with ya."

Rouge looked up, annoyed. "…Right."

* * *

To be continuuuuuued!


	3. Don't Bring Me Down

Notes!

Princess Sally returns once more, as well as a bunch of made-up original characters who you'll never see again. Also, did anyone notice how I'm naming all the chapters after E.L.O. song titles...?

* * *

The next day, Nack gave Rouge the punching bag exercise from the day prior. Rouge was trying her hardest to hit each of the bags, and to not protest when she was pushed down. Eventually, each of her attacks were on-target, and Nack stepped back and dropped the bags. Rouge slumped to the ground, attempting to catch her breath. Nack kneeled down next to her and ruffled her hair, to her slight chagrin.

"_Much _better than yesterday! Kid, you're getting better!"

"Thanks, Nack…" Rouge said between gasps.

"You think you'll teach her anything by wearing her out?" A voice called out from behind them. Both looked up to see Nic leaning on the side of the house..

"Nic, whaddya want?" Nack snarled.

"I watched her whole practice," Nic said, strolling up to them. "If you ask me, she'll need a woman to teach her some things."

"Oh, why the hell not. Glad to see you're comin' around." Nack stood up. "I'll be inside."

"Good thing, too. A certain someone and _Bark _showed up…"

Nack paused, his face filling with rage. He ran inside and slammed the door. "BEAN, GET OUT!"

From inside the house, sounds of a rumble and a loud quacking emitted.

Nic stood by and stared amusedly at the house. After a second, Rouge turned to the weasel. "Why does Bean keep coming here?"

Nic shrugged. "He's just stupid like that. And besides, we have a card game every week."

"Card game? And why hasn't anybody told me about it?"

"Because we have betting, beer and other _grown-up_ things," smirked Nic, purposely trying to belittle her.

"I've seen worse in Casinopolis on a Friday night." Rouge said, flying up in the air.

"Okay then," Nic looked up amusedly. "Do you have something to bet?"

"…Bet?"

"Like some money, some gold or a gem." Nic nodded. "You won't be able to get in without something."

"Oh, I could get something before lunchtime!" With that, Rouge flew off towards the city. Nic stood back, watching her. Some time after, Bean ran screeching out of the house, Bark lumbering behind and Nack glaring after them.

"…And would it KILL ya to wait 'til nine—" Nack slowly became aware of the absence of Rouge, and he turned to Nic, his face a mix of uneasiness and distaste. "Nicky. Where's the kid?"

"Went off to steal something." Nic didn't turn around. "I told her about the card game."

"You WHAT?!"

"Pfft, it's not like I gave her your _car_."

Bean, on the other hand, jumped around giddily. "Pretty lady gonna play! Gonna play!" And he proceeded to sing at least eighteen different words that rhymed with "play".

"Huh," was all Bark said.

Nack ignored then and continued to fight with Nic. "But she has less thief experience than a bank robber—"

"Dammit, Nack! She's not even _legal _and she put up with such a greasy city for hell-knows how long!"

Nack glared at her, his fists clenched.

"Doesn't it remind you of when _we _were kids?"

"Ah, whatever," Nack said, quitting the argument. "I just hope she doesn't mess up like last time…"

"Who said she messed up?"

In the meantime, Rouge was flying towards the Great Forest, looking around for the slightest trace of passable treasure. Passing the lake, she noticed something glittery at her side. Rouge hovered over the glowing spot in the middle of the water and moved down, taking care not to soak her entire glove. She grabbed onto the item and pulled up, almost horrified to see it was a giant ring.

Rouge flew to shore and studied it. The ring was too big to be a bracelet, and there was no necklace clasp. She put it on her head, wondering if it was a toy halo some child had left behind.

"It's you," a soft female voice said behind her.

Rouge whirled around, clutching the ring. The chipmunk girl from the day before stood behind her, eyeing the ring in Rouge's hand.

"Do you know what that is?" The girl asked.

"No, not really…" Rouge held the ring behind her back.

"Well, could you give it to me?" The girl held out her hand. "It's for a friend."

Rouge looked at her suspiciously. "What's your name?"

"_Princess _Sally Acorn," she said proudly. "Please give me the ring. You made off with a Chaos Emerald yesterday, and I'll let that be forgotten…perhaps for the time being…if you give the ring to me."

Rouge smiled, realizing she could haggle this. "Could I get something in exchange?"

"The ring isn't worth money."

"Don't you have another emerald? I'll trade you."

Sally put her hands on her hips. "Don't make me call the rest of the Freedom Fighters in."

"What, are they the fox and the hedgehog?"

"Well, _part _of the team…" Sally looked to the side for a long moment. Rouge sighed.

"I really need to impress someone," Rouge admitted.

"And _I _really need to help someone."

"Is it a boy?"

Sally froze, her face contemplative. "What if it is?"

"Then I sympathize with you." Rouge held out the ring. "Go on."

As Sally reached out for the ring, Rouge pulled it back. She gave a little smile and took to the air. Sally yelped and jogged below her, her sight on the ring.

The two paced against each other for a moment. Suddenly, Sally noticed something in a pine tree, and stopped. Rouge landed and watched Sally dig through the branches.

"_Now _what are you doing?"

Sally held up another ring. "I'll trade you this ring for your ring!"

Rouge held out the ring and took the other one gingerly. She studied the new ring and smiled. "Well! This one's even shinier."

"I'm glad you're satisfied," Sally bowed, then turned away and ran to the other end of the woods, heading towards Knothole Village. Rouge, however, had no idea the village existed, and dismissed her.

"What a weird girl," Rouge mumbled. She hopped up and flew away.

* * *

That evening, Nack and Nic were gathered around a table in what had formerly been their dining room. The table was lit by one overhead bulb, the rest of the room cluttered with junky mechanical parts. Nack sat at the table and shuffled a deck of cards as Nic stood at the door.

Bark knocked. Nic flipped it open tensely, and almost relaxed upon seeing the bear.

"Hnnh," Bark grunted, holding up a bag. "Brought some diamonds."

Nic waved him in. Bean followed Bark excitedly, squealing "card-game-grard-came" over and over until Nack pointed a shotgun at him.

A muscular beagle with a leather jacket and blue shirt came to the door. "Boss, ya here?"

Nack waved. "Yep. Nic, let Roquefort in."

Roquefort sat down at the table as well. He put down a brown jug and a ruby necklace. "The gin's for you, boss."

"Oh, great!" Nack grabbed the jug by the handle, put it to his mouth and took a slug. He wiped his lips off on his arm and said to Bean and Bark, "You two should do this for me. Very, very often."

Bean misunderstood him and started singing again.

A black and white cat came to the table as well. She smirked and set down three credit cards and a large sapphire. Bark whistled.

"Good to see you, Milan," Roquefort growled. Milan only grinned.

Nic came to the table. "Is everybody here? I offer…" she dropped a few things on the pile. "…A box of cigars and three engagement rings."

"Mmm, it's like Christmas," Nack purred.

Am I too late?" Rouge called from the door, clutching the ring.

Nack looked up from lighting a cigar. "Holy _hell_, where'd you get that?"

"I didn't know you smoked."

"Only on special occasions," he proclaimed. Rouge thought he almost looked stupid with the cigar between his gloved fingers.

"Join in!" Milan called out. "I assume you're the new trainee…is that ring from the Great Forest?"

Rouge sat down. "Yes. I had to fight with some princess chipmunk…"

Nic balanced her chin in her hand. "Princess Sally, huh? She's a real piece a' work…"

"Can I see that ring for a second?" Nack asked.

Proudly, Rouge offered it out to him. Nack studied the ring's shine, then took the cigar from his mouth and stabbed the ring with it. The ring's metal hissed and melted from the touch.

"Stop!" Rouge shrieked. "What are you doing?!"

Panicking, she looked at the gang around the table, only meeting their bored, pitying faces. She pulled back the ring and stared at it. If she were just a few years younger, she knew she would have cried.

"Fake ring," Nack dismissed. "Happened to me once, too."

"If it's a real one, it don't burn," Roquefort added with a nod. "The Princess has started keeping decoys out."

"Why?" Rouge asked, feeling empty. "What's the big deal over rings?"

"If ya hold it up, it gives y'such a blast of energy so strong…" He leaned in, looking at the older members of the table. "…That it's better than five orgasms _at once_!"

Laughter. Bean looked confused. With disgust, Rouge slid out of her chair and went to the door.

"We gonna start this or not?" Nic asked.

"I thought Hirriot was gonna come by," Bark mumbled.

"He cancelled. Hold on, I'm dealing…" Milan shuffled the deck. Rouge shut the door very gently, then stomped up to her room.


End file.
